Chamber and committees

So everything is now regularised.

My next question is slightly different. The report outlines that NHS NSS took a range of measures to support contact tracing. However, the report does not outline the impact of those measures on the programme overall. To what extent has the success or otherwise of those measures been evaluated?

I will take a slightly different angle. Your “Crofting Commission Report to the Audit and Finance Committee on the ‘Audit Dimensions and Best Value’ for the year ended 31 March 2021” states that the commissioners

“were apparently unaware of the fact that the Commission can employ staff in their own right, rather than through seconding staff from the Scottish Government.”

Is that correct?

I can remember at least half a dozen without even thinking about it, so I do not think that it is a small percentage. If the total number of NDPBs is 40-odd, that makes it 10 per cent or more, which I would call significant.

The question is whether the issue has been recognised by the Government and, if so, whether it is taking steps to do something about it. There is no indication of that in the report. How do we take the issue forward? How do we emphasise it? Should we be investigating it? Should we be really focused on it and driving forward with it? There seems to be a real issue, here.

I will put you on the spot a little bit. You have obviously recognised the issues and problems that repeatedly arise. What communications have you had with the Scottish Government, other than through the section 22 reports? What relationship do you have with the Government? What communications have you had with the Government to put forward your concerns and get it to understand and take them on board, and take action?

On the confusion of roles by the previous convener, should the role of convener have been clear to that person? Was it laid out in such a way that there should not have been any ambiguity when it came to the issues that are listed in the report?

A secondment is one thing; simply recruiting somebody under the same terms and conditions as the Scottish Government is another.

That makes a significant difference. Would even that cause a blurring of relationships?

Okay. Perhaps the Auditor General can provide the committee with clarification when he can.

It would be good to see the figure. I realise that the period was one of extreme urgency and that the PPE had to be acquired to protect lives.

Your briefing also says that the 48 PPE hubs were to be in place

“until the end of June 2021”,

and that the Scottish Government and NHS NSS were “considering future arrangements”. Do you have any idea what those future arrangements might be?

Other than the fact that the Government is still evaluating its forward plans, was there a specific reason why it decided to continue to support private providers?